Tetris May Help Sooth Your Worried Mind, Study Says (theweek.in) 40
A new study published in the journal Emotion has found that playing the classic game of Tetris can help sooth the mind when you are awaiting uncertain news. The Week reports: The venerable video game was used in a recent experiment to create a state of flow -- the term psychologists use to describe a state of mind so engaged it makes the rest of the world fall away, and time pass more quickly. Researchers from University of California (UC) Riverside in the U.S. have found that state of perfect disengagement may improve the otherwise-emotionally unpleasant experience of waiting for uncertain news. In place of Tetris, in which blocks are flipped every which way and stacked into rows, one can substitute flow activities such as rock climbing, carpentry, playing chess, or swimming, researchers said.
For the research published in the journal Emotion, 290 undergraduate students were told the study would be about physical attractiveness. They filled out a questionnaire, after which a photo was taken of them. They were then told that students in another location would rate their physical attractiveness. While they were ostensibly being rated, the students were then asked to play Tetris for 10 minutes. [...] The participants who achieved flow -- those in the adaptive group -- experienced less negative emotion, and greater positive emotion than those who were bored, or for whom the level of play was too difficult.
For the research published in the journal Emotion, 290 undergraduate students were told the study would be about physical attractiveness. They filled out a questionnaire, after which a photo was taken of them. They were then told that students in another location would rate their physical attractiveness. While they were ostensibly being rated, the students were then asked to play Tetris for 10 minutes. [...] The participants who achieved flow -- those in the adaptive group -- experienced less negative emotion, and greater positive emotion than those who were bored, or for whom the level of play was too difficult.
WTF (Score:1)
Were these scientists pining for the steamships of their youth or something? Had they never played video games?
OF COURSE video games are distracting and disengage you from reality. And so do movies. And books. That's why we have these forms of entertainment. They are an escape from reality. I guess for some old timers, this isn't common knowledge. Now they know! Let all retirement communities be one big LAN party! Quake ahoy!
Ignorant people who pretend say "May, Maybe". (Score:2)
We are seeing numerous incidents of people pretending to know things who are actually ignorant about logic. They say "may", as in this case, or "maybe". It's clickbait. It's fake news.
Well duh (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
I don't suppose you see any irony in this, do you?
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Which capitalism do you mean? German version, US version, NK one? Or maybe Somalian ? These are all different and have different ways of dealing with problems and yet each of these systems as well all others have some meaning attached to the word property. Sometimes all property is state owned which is to say there is a small group of assholes that own the whole country like it is the case in NK. But even there there is something called private property and people keep some of it and exchange some of it to
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Do you understand what you write?
Altruism - "selfless devotion to the welfare of others" - is not a good thing. It is self-destructive, and self-destruction is the root of all evil.
"I love you. So now you must reward me. Give me ten dollars." Love is an emotion, it has no objective value. It is entirely subjective, and the reward is entirely internal to the loving person.
has no measurable value. How do you reward what can't e
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Objectively, the life inside the game usually sucks pretty bad. Tetris of course being a rare exception as it is totally abstract with no life presented in the game, or even implied.
I mean, which life do I really want, mine, or the life of any of the characters in Street Fighter? That's not an escape, some other effect must be responsible.
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Or alternatively, my point went over your head.
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Objectively, the life inside the game usually sucks pretty bad. Tetris of course being a rare exception as it is totally abstract with no life presented in the game, or even implied.
I mean, which life do I really want, mine, or the life of any of the characters in Street Fighter? That's not an escape, some other effect must be responsible.
The entire point is about escapism, distraction, and finding another focus. It really doesn't matter if the life of a character in Street Fighter is complete shit. Distraction/refocusing is the key. The study itself shouldn't really be any surprise though it's pretty much a replication of existing studies that have already proven this. Neurologists(and pain clinics) have been telling people who have chronic pain problems to use games, movies, books, etc., as a supplement to their pain management treatmen
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So playing games while you're worried takes your mind off things? Well gosh. Whoda thunk it? It's almost as if for some people, that's the whole point of video games, avoiding a shitty life by achieving flow in another world where their lives don't suck. I'm glad valuable grant money was spent on such an unexpected outcome that will certainly pave the way for exciting developments. Hey, look at it this way: these results are likely replicable, unlike most of the rest of the "science" produced by the humanities.
Hey, they also discovered other activities that takes your mind off of something is soothing: In place of Tetris, in which blocks are flipped every which way and stacked into rows, one can substitute flow activities such as rock climbing, carpentry, playing chess, or swimming, researchers said.
TL;DR of TFA: Quit mopping around and go outside and do something..
Puts my mind on attacks against free software (Score:3)
Especially because Tetris lost its ability to take my mind off something since the 2008 "FOSS destroys the market" interview [slashdot.org] and a 2012 copyright lawsuit [slashdot.org] made Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov appear to me as an open opponent of the free software movement.
It's been said before to help other things (Score:2)
It is also said to help lessen the effects of PTSD as reported previously on slashdot.
https://science.slashdot.org/story/17/03/29/163238/playing-tetris-can-reduce-onset-of-ptsd-after-trauma-study-finds
more than 1 year old (Score:2)
I heard it quite some time before /. had something a year ago; possibly another time before that?
It is NOT Tetris specifically, Tetris was used in the 1st study I read about. It's possible a non-Tetris study existed that didn't get noticed decades ago!
It's keeping your mind from dwelling / meditating on the trauma which is how memories are cemented. The way it works means that all other known science can be applied for greater impact; such as poor quality sleep that night because a healthy sleep cycle reh
Forsooth (Score:2)
'Tis another typo
New stress, not less stress (Score:2)
While playing Tetris or any of the other endless video games of similar ilk, whether Tetris, or crushing candies or falling jewels, I find that they distract me from current concerns, as the psychologists noted. But they induce a stress of their own that steadily increases as the game continues, relentlessly and endlessly.
Sooth (Score:2)
https://www.merriam-webster.co... [merriam-webster.com]
sooth adjective [süth]
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 archaic : true
2 archaic : soft, sweet
sooth noun
Definition of sooth (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : truth, reality
2 obsolete : blandishment
But only... (Score:2)
...if you can get that damn straight four piece.
I wish /. had editors (Score:2)
And those of us, a vanishing number it seems, who were taught phonics know that the word you're looking for is "soothe".